The Multiples in the Family
by SplishySplash
Summary: A case leads Booth and Brennan to Salt Lake City, Utah and comes into contact with the concept of plural marriages and murder.
1. Sleep

1**Title: **The Multiples in the Family

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, nothing at all. This is sort of a cross over with Big Love and talks about the concept of Polygamy, a concept that has totally baffled me. Being a first year Anthropology student from Salt Lake City where there are known polygamists in the state I thought 'Hey, lets write a story about it' . . . Oh the Big Love thing is not a huge cross over and unless you've watched the show you're not going to notice.

**Chapter One: Sleep**

The shrill of the phone in the early morning startled the sleeping anthropologist. Reaching her arm that was coiled tightly at her side, she haphazardly hit the talk button and placed it to her ear. "Hello?" She answered hoarsely.

"Sorry to wake you, Bones." Came her partner's equally tired voice. "We have a plane to catch in an hour for a case." His voice laced with regret, as she looked up at the flashing LED on her alarm clock: one fifteen in the morning.

"S'okay." She answered, trying to get her brain to form multi-syllable sentences. "Time?"

He laughed softly. "I will be there in fifteen minutes." The dial tone rang in her ears for a moment longer before she sat up and climbed out of bed, reaching for her duffle bag that was in the closet. She threw the necessities into it, changing her top to a snug white tee and placing a grey hooded sweatshirt on her small frame before turning to the bathroom to run a brush through her hair and pulling it into a hair tie.

She was brushing her teeth when there was a tap on the door brought her out of the bathroom to answer it. Booth stood on the other side, almost dressed as she was-in plaid flannel pajamas bottoms and a pullover hooded sweatshirt. "Are you about ready to go?"

Brennan nodded before padding back to her bathroom to rinse out her mouth. When she came out of the bathroom, Booth stood in the front room with her bag in his hand. "I could carry that myself." She said as they walked out of her apartment.

"Good to see that you are forming longer sentences." He joked with a hand on the small of her back and holding her duffle bag as she held her warn brown knapsack. The tired anthropologist glared at him as he held the door open for her and she didn't argue, the lack of sleep was catching up quickly. He started the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, reaching into the cup holder for a single cup of coffee. "I didn't bring you any, so you could try to get some sleep."

"Good idea." She answered, she appreciated the thought that he was allowing her the luxury of sleep on the plane. Leaning her head on the rest her eyes fluttered close and allowed herself to drift off.

It wasn't long until he shook her awake. "Hey Bones." He said and her eyes opened, silently getting out of the SUV and meeting him at back to grab her luggage and field kit. "Good thing we left this beast in here."

She nodded as she shouldered her kit and Booth carried both duffels into the terminal. "Where are we going?" She asked as they approached the flight counter.

"Salt Lake City, Utah." He answered, before turning his attention to the woman behind the counter, pulling out his badge from his hooded sweatshirt. "I'm with the FBI and we need to pick up two tickets to Salt Lake."

She looked at the identification badge before typing furiously at the computer. "Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan to Salt Lake City, boarding starts in ten minutes." She said handing him the boarding passes and taking the bags from the counter. "Enjoy your flight."

He nodded in acknowledgment and handed Brennan her boarding pass as they walked to the security gate. "What's the case?" She asked, removing her flip-flops and placing them in the tray, along with her knapsack, pulling out her laptop and placing it on top of her shoes.

"I don't know much, just that they needed your expertise." He responded, pulling his own flip-flops off and tossing them the bin along with his badge and wallet before stepping through the security terminal. "All I know is that it couldn't wait until morning for us to fly out."

They grabbed their things from the bins and walked towards their terminal. "What do you know about the case?" She pestered with a yawn, grateful that their terminal was the first one out of security. "Excuse me." Her hand went to her mouth, to hide her yawn.

"You can be really intimidating when you're tired." He said poking her in the side, as they handed their tickets to the stewardess and took their seats in the middle of the nearly empty aircraft. Brennan took her seat in the middle as he took the one in the isle.

"Intimidating?" She asked, handing her bag to him to place in over head compartment.

"You tend to growl a little bit."He said, sitting down with a thud and casually picked up the Sky Mall magazine, glancing almost playfully to her.

"I do not growl." She said, fighting a yawn and lost. The stewardess walked through the cabin, doing her final check as another one gave the preflight instructions. "Ok, maybe. But only when I am woken up early in the morning to fly across the country."

"You're a bit testy when you haven't slept properly, in how long?" He asked, leaning back as the plane picked up speed towards take off.

"What do you consider proper?" She asked, knowing that she wasn't getting the recommended eight hours of sleep a night, their last case had been long and trying. Her father's trial, Zack's betrayal, England, Ripley and it did a number on her sleep cycle.

"You know standard eight hours, in your own bed and not on the couch in your office or at your desk." Booth answered taking note of the dark circles around her eyes, it was on more than one occasion that he had found her asleep at her desk.

"I went to bed fairly early, but then my publisher called and I was dealing with her issues that she easily could've handled herself, I fell asleep and not two hours later you called me." She said, her eyes growing watery.

"Lie down and get some sleep, we've got at least five more hours until we land." Booth suggested, patting his lap. "Either lay your head on my lap or your feet, whatever is more comfortable." He motioned the steward for a pillow and blanket, handing them to the anthropologist.

She placed the pillow against Booth's leg, ear buds from her iPod in her ears and curled up against her partner and it wasn't long till her breathing evened out. Booth's attention turned to the sleeping woman and smiled tenderly, brushing the loose hair off her face as he picked up the outrageously priced catalogue.

Page after page of the random things engulfed his attention until the steward cleared his through, begging his notice. "Would you like any refreshments?" He asked with a thick New England accent.

"Some orange juice, please?" He asked, putting the magazine back into the seat in front of him.

"Would you like to order anything for your wife?" He asked, looking up from his pad of paper.

He looked to the sleeping woman; her arm held his legs tightly at his knees and her hair fanned at his waist with her face buried into the pillow and earphone securely into her ear. "No, it's alright." He said, not correcting the man.

Juice finished, Booth took advantage of the quietness of the plane and he drifted off to sleep.

". . . . Will you please put your tray tables in an upright position, we will make our final run through the cabin and pick up any trash."

Booth opened his eyes, slightly disorientated, and looked to his partner who hadn't moved since she fell asleep "Bones, we are about to land." He said, shaking her slightly.

She opened her eyes and sat up, looking at her iPod screen and frowned at its blank screen. "What time is it?" She asked, her voice hoarse.

He looked at his watch. "It's almost seven thirty in Washington." Booth said, placing the arm rest that was up between them down.

"It's almost five thirty here." She said stretching her cramped muscles and elbowing Booth in the face.

"Ow!" He cried out, his hands going to his nose.

"I'm sorry!" She said, pulling his hands from his face to assess any damage. "It's not broken and it's not even bleeding." Came her assessment as if she was talking down to a child.

"It doesn't hurt, just caught me by surprise." He said with a hint of annoyance.

Before she could retort the loud speaker came on again. "Again we at United Airlines would like to say thank you for flying with us this morning, and we would like to be the first to welcome you to Salt Lake City."


	2. Settling In

**Title: The Multiples in the Family**

****

Disclaimer:

I own nothing, nothing at all. Thanks for all the reviews! This is just fluff before the case, I needed a running start in order to build a case.****

Chapter Two:Settling In

As they exited the terminal and headed towards baggage claim, a young man wearing a nice dress suit stood just outside the terminal exit holding a sign with their names written in a well practiced penmanship waiting for their arrival.

Booth approached him and pulled out his badge. "Welcome to Salt Lake City, Mr. Booth and Ms. Brennan, My name is Clark Reynolds and I'm with the Grand America Hotel." He said.

"Thank you, Clark." Booth said, shaking his hand and following him towards their carousel, placing a hand on her lower back. As if luck was on their side, their luggage came out with first and next to each other, leaving Booth to pull out his own bag along with both of hers and the young concierge held out his hand to the doctor offering to hold her bag. "I wouldn't do that." Instead Booth handed him his own bag while taking her field kit.

Clarke said nothing and led the way towards the long, white standard hotel van. "Are you here on vacation?" Asked the man, starting the van and pulling away from the curb.

"No, we are here on business." Said Booth with a shrug as the city came into view. The mountains on both sides of the car created a huge valley as the population fit in between. "If you look to your left you will see down town, home of the 2002 Olympic games." The downtown held a small amounts of skyscrapers that were nowhere near as big as seen in New York or Washington D.C. and a small white temple stood out against the city line, almost begging the eye to look at it.

They took in the valley as the sun began to rise from the east, creating a glow on the buildings. "Have you ever been here?" Asked Booth, glancing at his partner who sat silently next to him looking over the western side of the valley.

"No, but I hear that Utah has some amazing skiing." She said with a smile. "Have you?"

"I don't think so, I might have drove through northern Utah when I was a kid." He said.

"Are you folks into hiking or biking?" Asked the driver, the pair looked at each other and nodded. "Well if you get a chance to head down south to Moab or Arches, they have some amazing trails. My personal favorite is Zion that has some pretty amazing waterfalls."

Brennan nodded and considered the option. "That sounds nice, maybe we'll get a chance to go see it." She said as they pulled into a large entrance for a hotel, almost catching Booth off guard.

They got out of the van and loaded their things onto the small trolley and headed to the check in counter. A middle aged woman stood at the desk, her glasses slid low on her nose. "Welcome to the Grand America Hotel, I trust you have a reservation?"

"Yeah, two rooms under Seeley Booth." He said.

The woman typed quickly on the key board and frowned at the screen. "We have your rooms ready, but we have a note on the account." She said, looking up. "We had woman call last night looking for a room and we are completely booked, we were wondering if we could place you in a two queen sized bed room and we will make it worth your while with a free meal at our five star restaurant and spa."

"That's fine." Booth answered, gaining a nod from Brennan.

"Is there something big going on in the city?" Asked the anthropologist.

"It's Conference weekend which is a general meeting for members of the LDS church, pretty much every hotel in the valley is booked for it, because it's the first conference with the new prophet." The woman explained. "We might have a spare room if you want to wait, but you might lose the one we have for you now."

"Don't worry about it, we'll be fine." Said Booth, the woman handed him the keys and directed him towards the elevator towards their room.

The elevator took them to the ninth floor as they turned right and headed to the last room on the end, he slid the card into the reader and they both took steps into the room. They stood in awe at the size of the room along with the furniture, two matching beds in the middle of the room with a huge TV sitting on a borough across from the beds and in the corner sat a small table and chairs.

"They must've really needed us to put us in this hotel." Brennan said in her candid bluntness.

The bathroom, that was next to the entrance, held a large jetted tub in the corner and a separate shower on the opposite. "I agree." Booth answered. "Our ride will pick us up at eight thirty, do you want to take a shower first?"

"Yes, did someone leave a message with the Jeffersonian that I was here?" She asked, setting her things on the closest bed and rummaged through her things to pull out an outfit and her shower necessities.

"I'm sure someone did, but I will double check." He responded, pulling out his cell phone. "I'm going to see if the continental breakfast is open this early and grab some food." She nodded and walked into the bathroom with the small click of the door.

He quickly dialed the number for her supervisor and it rang two times until a voice came on the other end. "Doctor Saroyan." She answered.

"Good morning, Cam." Booth said, opting to take the stairs towards the bottom floor.

"I got the voicemail about your and Doctor Brennan's flight plans at almost one thirty this morning, I assume you made it to Utah alright?" Cam asked, he could hear the papers shuffling on the other end.

"Yeah, we landed about an hour ago and we checked into our hotel, just about to get dressed and eat breakfast." Booth said.

"Didn't get dressed this morning?" She asked, a hint of teasing in her voice.

"It was early, but I wasn't the only one." He retorted, she chuckled on the other end almost surprised. "I know, but she hasn't been sleeping well since . . . you know."

"Yeah I know, it's going to take some time to get over it." Cam said and after a long moment she spoke again, "All I can sat is stay out of trouble."

"Yes mom." Booth answered with a sigh. "We will call you as soon as we get the scene secured." They said their goodbyes as he reached the lobby, just as they were setting up the continental breakfast. He selected corn flakes and fruit along with soy milk to feed her new vegetarian habits and he picked up some pieces of bacon with pancakes.

"Would you like some coffee, sir?" Asked a young attendant as he reached the end of the line and he looked at both plates in his hands, frowning. She smiled sweetly before grabbing her pad of paper. "I can have it brought freshly to your room."

He flashed a smile. "That would be great," He looked at her name tag. "Natalie, can I get two cups please?"

She nodded somewhat in awe as she wrote down the room number, he turned and walked back to the elevator and hit the button with his elbow.

When he made it to the room, he skillfully balanced a plate on his arm and inserted the key. It chirped and he opened the door to see his partner sitting on the bed, wearing black slacks and a white camisole, her hair wrapped up in a towel and watching the TV.

She turned her attention on him as he placed the plate in her hand. "Thanks, did you know that Brigham Young created a grid system out of the roads that go higher the farther away from the Mormon temple?"

He sat next to her on the same bed, taking a bite of the bacon. "I don't know who he is, but his football team completely shut out UCLA two weeks ago."

Before she could say anything, a small tap on the door caught their attention. Booth handed her his plate and stood up to answer it. It was the young girl from the lobby with another girl at her side. "Here's your coffee." She said, handing him the tray.

"Thank you." Booth said, but was interrupted by his partner.

"Ask who Brigham Young is." She shouted from the bed, watching the TV screen flash to different activities to do it the city.

"Bones!" He scolded, turning to look at her.

"What? He's a predominant figure in Utah history, it's only right that they should know who he is." She turned to look at him, taking a bite of her cereal.

To save argument, the second girl spoke up. "He led the Mormon pioneers to Utah valley and stood on a rock saying 'this is the place' from Nauvoo, Illinois and practiced polygamy, which is probably what he is known for. He was the prophet of the church after Joseph Smith was martyred. . ."The first girl elbowed her and she went quiet.

"Well, thanks ladies." Booth said, handing the girls the tip and shutting the door. "Now we know."

The doctor shrugged and continued eating until Booth handed her a cup of coffee and a napkin. She smiled as she noticed writing on the napkin that was inked in sharpie, which included the name and phone number for one of the girls. "Working your charm on the ladies already, Booth?" She asked showing him the note.

He picked up his plate and smiled. "Natalie, she was serving coffee down in the lobby."

"She's much too young for you." Said Brennan, placing a grape into her mouth. "What I think is that you charmed your way into having her bringing coffee up to our room, which is probably not her job, using that damn smile of yours."

He frowned almost playfully. "Well, who asked you what you thought." He snapped as the tips of his ears turned red. He finished the rest of his pancakes and tossed the plate into the garbage can in the corner of the room.

"It would be cradle robbing, you know. You are at least twelve years older if not older than her judging by her . . ." She said as he stood up and began rummaging for his things to shower.

"Where did you learn that term?" He interrupted in shock, giving her the once over and not allowing her finish the analysis of the girl who seemed to have a crush on him.

"Hodgins said it once, did I use it properly?" She asked, setting her plate on the bed.

He didn't know how to respond to her inquiry, he opened his mouth and closed it a couple times. "Yes, you used it properly and in the sense that Hodgins used it." He said, shutting the bathroom door and preceded into the bathroom to take a shower.


	3. Scortched Vehicals

**Title: The Multiples in the Family**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, it took awhile to build a case and now we have remains to get the case on the road. **

**Chapter Three: Scorched Vehicle**

Precisely at eight thirty the phone began to ring from its stand between both beds and was picked up after the second ring by the Special Agent. "Hello?" He asked.

"Mr. Booth, your ride is here to pick you up." Said a woman's voice from the other end.

"Thank you, we are on our way." He hung up the phone as Brennan came out of the bathroom, hair pulled back in a tie. "I feel so rich staying here." Bringing a laugh from the woman, who picked up the field kit and followed him out the door.

--

As they exited the elevator, a man that was dressed almost similarly to Booth in a look that practically screamed Federal Bureau of Investigation, approached them. "Special Agent Booth?" He asked, extending his hand.

Booth grasped his hand and pointed towards the woman to his side. "This is my partner Doctor Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist with the Jeffersonian Institute." He said proudly, a hand on her lower back.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I am Special Agent Kyle Hyde." He said, the man of his early thirties stood shorter than Booth and was not as toned. "If you would follow me, my partner is in the car waiting." They followed the agent towards a silver sedan with a woman leaning against the hood.

The woman stood to full height and took a step towards them. "Hi, I'm Special Agent Sarah Dalton and you must be Temperance Brennan." She said excitedly. "I've read all your books and just adore them."

Brennan flushed modestly. "Thank you." She said, Booth cleared his throat from next to her. "Oh this is Seeley Booth, my partner." She looked the woman over and watched her walked to the driver's side, her outfit hid the fact the she was pregnant.

Booth shoved her gently into the car before she could analyze the woman further and she walked around the other side and climbed into the car. "What can you tell us about the case?" Booth asked, turning his legs towards the center with a bump to her knees.

"Fire department was called at ten p.m. last night and discovered an abandoned pickup truck was on fire, they were lucky that the whole damn canyon didn't catch fire, but they put it out and found a body sitting inside. They called the local P.D., who called us in and thus why you are here." Explained Hyde handing them a manila folder that held the preliminary findings.

"Have the remains been moved?" She asked looking at the pictures, holding it close to her nose.

"Yes, FBI techs moved them about three hours ago and they are still on site awaiting for your orders." Hyde said, looking through his own file.

Brennan groaned inwardly so that only Booth could her here, placing a hand on her thigh with a squeeze. "Is there a problem?" Asked Dalton after she didn't respond, she looked through the rear view mirror and frowned.

"No, she's just really particular about her remains." Booth said with a smile, "Don't worry about it, you can just go over their work. The FBI techs back in D.C. have learned not to touch the remains until after Doctor Brennan gives the ok."

Hyde laughed softly. "I apologize for the inconvenience, we thought it would speed things along. . ."

It was Booth turn to groan at his attempt to speed the process, a big 'no-no' in the book of working with his partner. He looked over to her as her polite smile turned into a glare and she bit her lip to hide a retort that he knew was forming in her all too quick thinking brain. Brennan's blue eyes looked to his, trying to think of something nice to say. "It's no inconvenience she just likes to be thorough."

The rest of the ride was awkward as they reached a police road block, Dalton flashed her badge and they were waved through.

With the car put into park, they awaited for Brennan to put on her jump suit before ducking under the caution tape to the crime scene. A skeleton laid on a blue tarp and as Brennan kneeled at its side, Booth pulled out his notebook. "Female between seventeen to twenty one." She said, placing the latex gloves on her dainty fingers with a snap at the wrist. "Caucasian."

"That narrows down the population by half." Commented Hyde, gaining an elbow to the chest from Dalton. "Cause of death?"

Brennan took a deep breath before moving to the skull. "I think the gaping hole in the back of the skull is a clue." She answered sarcastically as she looked closer.

"What is it?" Booth asked, growing annoyed that Hyde was making their job more difficult.

"Her face has been scraped off." Brennan said looking up at him. "You can see the scrapes along the brow ridge," Booth looked up in surprise and she reached for the wrist to look at the fingertips, "same with the phalanges."

"Someone was trying at all cost to keep her identity a secret."Commented Booth, she stood to full height and he followed her to the pickup. She opened the door and took in the interior of the vehicle whose inside was charred black. It wasn't long until she took a step inside that Booth looked surprised, something had caught her attention.

"Will you hand me my forceps." She asked, her knee on the seat and a hand on the back window frame. He handed her the forceps and she reached in to pull the object that had caught her attention. The head rest that her hand was on gave away causing her to fall slightly and gasp in surprise.

"You ok, Bones?" He asked, the nickname piqued the interest of the two other agents that were watching their every movement.

"Yeah." She climbed out of the car, her elbows, knees, and back covered in ash from the car. "But look what I found." She held up the object and Booth's eyebrow shot up.

It was a small hand gun.

Booth reached for an evidence bag and she placed it inside. "Is it the weapon that killed her?" Asked Dalton, folding her arms tightly around her.

"I'm not sure until I analyze the remains." She answered wiping the sweat from her face, covering her face with soot. "I didn't find a bullet, maybe the tech's can find something."

She walked back to the remains and kneeled down next to the skull. Booth stood in front of Dalton and Hyde, giving them instructions before walking back to his partner. "What is it?" She squinted and frowned."You don't think she was shot, do you?"

"No, but she was pregnant." Brennan responded. "Her pelvis was opening in order to allow the fetus to pass through the birth canal, but I don't see any fetal bones."

"Is it possible that they disintegrated in the fire?" Booth asked.

She shrugged. "Maybe, I won't know until I get to a lab." She looked up at Booth and something in the distance caught her attention. She stood up to full height and walked to the tree line, a golden bracelet laid in the grass and she picked it up holding it for both to see. "**Elisa. For all time and eternity-E & N April 22, 2008." **She read out loud, her bangs fell out if its tie on to her face.

He brushed it out of her eyes. "Eternity is a long time." He said smiling. "Do you think its related?"

"I won't know until I test it, but that's not what I noticed." She pointed to a large wooden gate that was buried in the trees. They walked through it and again the anthropologist frowned, trotting a couple of steps to some moss that grew strangely on the ground. "Do you know what that is?"

"Moss?" He asked.

"It's adipocere, there is a body under there." She dropped to her knees and started to dig with her hands.

Booth started to shuffle the dirt with his feet and a white pair of bones poked through. "Here it is." He said looking surprised.

Brennan stood up and walked some fifteen feet away. "I found something over here also." She called standing up looking confused and frustrated. "Femora, maybe three or four."

They made eye contact and Booth took the hint to go in search of help, he returned with a small army of agents who immediately began to help her excavate the remains. Starting with building a small grid system and taking pictures of the scene they began the tedious work of searching for the bones.

It was three hours later that she stood to full height, her aching muscles and head ache caused the unwanted break. Booth wandered over to her, handing her a bottle of water. "Here drink this." He said with a frown, her face was flushed. "Let's go sit down for a bit."

"No, we are nowhere near finished with excavation." She said handing him the water.

"You are getting dehydrated, you need to sit down before you get sick." He said firmly and led her back to the mobile lab just outside the original crime scene, she sat down in the dirt and leaned back against the trailer.

Hyde walked over to them, carrying a laptop computer. "We've satellite linked you to the Jeffersonian, just as Booth had asked." He set it on the cooler that sat in front of them and Booth sat completely on the ground.

She opened the screen and her co-workers sat on the other side of the screen. "You look like Hell, sweetie." Came Angela's voice from the screen, the artist's face dropped in worry.

"I'm having the time of my life." She said unenthusiastic about her current state, her hair was falling out of its tie, soot on her flushed face and she had unzipped the top of her jump suit as the top rested at her waist.

Booth smiled before he spoke. "We've just uncovered a mass grave on top of our original case. . ."

"Mass grave?" Asked Cam, it caught the interest of the people on the screen.

"Yes and some of them seem fairly recent." Brennan answered. "The remains have been organized strangely, none of them anatomically placed whereas the bones suggest that they have been dismembered post mortem."

"Really, that's kind of cool." Hodgins said, getting elbowed by both women. "How many bodies?"

"We have uncovered twenty one skulls, forty two femora and some five hundred ribs." Brennan described. "Not to mention the countless number of vertebrae, carpals, tarsals and phalanges that had been sorted accordingly and separated the same amount of space. I'm hoping that they are placed by in a way that it would be easy to identify, but it's still going to take a while."

Her name was called and she looked up, it was Hyde motioning for her to come to her. She rolled her eyes and got to her feet. "She doesn't seem impressed." Commented Cam, gaining a laugh from Angela and Hodgins at the anthropologist's expense.

"She's not, the agents that picked us up this morning moved the original remains from the vehicle to speed the process, so immediately getting off to the wrong foot with her and the remains keep piling up." Booth said with a laugh, Brennan called him from the other agent. "We will call back later, I think it's time for lunch."

They said their goodbyes and he walked towards Brennan. "It's almost one, we are going to go to lunch and the first set of remains will be sent to the University of Utah." Kyle answered.

"We aren't finished with the excavation of the mass grave and with the pattern we still haven't found any of the tibia, clavicles, radii and ulna." Brennan said forcefully.

"The techs will finish that and as soon as they are finished they will be sent to the lab." Hyde said almost as forcefully, prepared to argue with the woman.

Booth glared at the man, "I'm hungry, Bones. After we eat, you can go over the remains." He shot her his charm smile.

She huffed and put her hands on her hips, his charm smiled had taken its effect. "Fine."


	4. Skeletons in the Lab

**Title: The Multiples in the Family**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, sadly**

**Note: I'm starting to build a case now, and starting from this chapter I'm crossing over with Big Love, unless you've seen the show you really wouldn't know it. I hope you like it, I love the reviews. **

It was almost two when Brennan started to clean the remains of the first victim, carefully separating the particulates from the scarred tissue and the tissue from the bones at the University of Utah forensics lab. At first look of the skull, the hole at the back didn't suggest a gunshot wound but more of blunt force trauma backed up by the large traces of dirt around the jagged edge.

Her partner had gone with the Agent Hyde to the FBI office to look through missing persons reports, leaving her with Agent Dalton. The young woman leaned against the steal metal table, watching with interest as Brennan's fluid motions around the body in awe. "I hear that you are very good in your field." She said, trying to make conversation.

"I'd like to think so." Brennan answered, looking at the screen with a magnified image of the pelvis. "She was definitely pregnant and about to give birth."

The woman paled and looked over her shoulder. "You can tell that from a pile of bones?" She asked with a shaky voice.

She spared the anatomy lesson and pointed to the end of the pelvis. "Yes, it was opening to allow for the head to pass and once the head passes the opening closes slightly." Brennan answered briefly. "But I can't seem to find any fetal bones."

"They can't just disappear, can they?" Asked Dalton with the color still missing from her face.

"No, the fetus was taken out by some kind of knife." Brennan said pointing to the nicks on the bottom ribs. "It's quite possible that the infant is still alive."

"I'll call Agent Hyde and have him look for any newborns checked into a hospital in the last twenty four hours."She said as Brennan's own cell phone began to ring.

"Brennan." She answered, almost annoyed.

"Are you playing nicely with Agent Dalton." Booth asked from the other end, she could tell that he was smiling into the receiver.

"Of course." Brennan answered, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder. "I found that she wasn't shot in the head, she was struck by a hard object, probably a rock and her wrist show defensive breaks."

"That's good, because the gun has isn't registered to anyone after 1987. We called the previous owner and he said he sold it in 1994 in a penny-saver ad, after that it's been lost." Booth said, almost muffled. "Also had the techs run the necklace."

She smiled before she spoke. "Did you get a match?" She asked.

"We did, it was paid for by a Nathan Grant. This if I had to guess would be the 'N' in the etching, bought and paid for in March of this year at The Shane Company." Booth said, adjusting the phone so he wasn't muffled. "He is the same man who reported Elisa Grant missing early this morning."

"Can you get me any dental records for her? I just finished the initial report and on my way to get x-rays." Brennan asked, something she said caught the attention of the young agent who was talking to her partner on the phone.

"I'll see what I can do," Booth said, "but Hyde seems skeptical."

"Why?" Brennan asked.

"I'm not sure, he says ask Dalton who the Grants are." Booth answered, Hyde had said it would make more sense if the female agent explained it to her rather than Booth rely the message. Booth knew that it would annoy his partner, but Hyde refused to tell him.

"We don't even know if she's the same victim."Brennan argued. "Besides, she was at least 30 weeks pregnant, if not later, there has to be some documented blood work somewhere."

"I know Bones, I'm searching for any records and I will call you when I get an answer." Booth answered. "I'll talk to you later."

She said her goodbye and placed her phone into her pocket. Dalton had also finished her phone call and looked expectantly at the anthropologist. "Hyde told me to tell you who the Grants are."

Brennan nodded and continued her work on the remains. "Yes." She answered. "That would be appreciated."

"Roman Grant is the known prophet for the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, which is a protestant religion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who is a known strong supporter of polygamy and is said to have multiple wives himself, Nathan is one of his sons who is prominent in the religion."Explained Dalton.

"That isn't relevant to figuring out who this woman is." Brennan said pointing towards the remains on the table.

"It does if she was raised in a compound or not." Dalton argued folding her arms defensively.

"She's obviously had some dental work." She pointed to the mandible that showed a filling. "She had braces at some point in her life, don't forget that she is pregnant and has probably seen a doctor at one point. I mean you're pregnant and how many times have you had your blood drawn?"

The woman's face fell. "How did you know I was pregnant?" She asked in just above a whisper.

"By the way your hips have shifted to allow the head to rest in the pubic region, you're not that far along and I would have to guess fourteen weeks?" Brennan retorted before moving back on the subject. "There has to be record of this woman somewhere."

The woman huffed before brushing her bangs out of her face. "What I'm trying to say is that polygamists don't usually see regular doctors or dentists."

"As I recall polygamy is illegal is it not?" Brennan asked.

"It is and it was abolished a long time ago." Dalton said. "But they can say they are married, but not by the books. . ."

"Anthropologically speaking having many wives was a way to show status or to produce many heirs to help work the land because women can only have so many children when men can have many children." Brennan explained.

"I don't question it, they say that God tells them to have multiple wives and have strict rules on schooling, clothing and rumor has it that the prophet assigns who marries whom. Generally women don't have a say in any of it and I think it's barbaric." Her phone rang and she shot her an apologetic smile.

Brennan rolled her eyes, moving onto the other remains from the scene that had started to arrive and she turned to the tedious task of sorting and cataloguing the mess of bones.

_

The early October sun had set completely when Booth had returned to the make shift lab to bones sorted on white sheets on the floor and a sign at the door written in her familiar script to take all shoes off.

Booth complied with her request and began to search the large room for his partner, who wasn't standing next to a table of remains but on the floor kneeling next to the massive pile of unidentified bones. "Welcome to the danger zone." Booth said with a smile. "It looks like there was an explosion."

She stood up and placed her hands on her aching back, her hair had fallen mostly out of its tie and was knotted around her face. She glistened with sweat and her deodorant was working overtime, her knees were dusty from the dirt on the floor and her top hung tightly with hand prints on the sides, in Booth's opinion, beautiful. "This place isn't dangerous, just a mess. . ."

"It's an expression Bones." He said with a smile. "You look . . ."

"Don't you finish that sentence, I might have to hit you." Brennan threatened pointing her index finger at him, Booths hand went to his jaw where she had hit him after his funeral and knew full well that she would.

"I was going to say exhausted, how long have you been working on these?" Booth asked with a smirk.

"What time is it?" She asked, stretching her arms high above her head.

"It's almost nine in this time zone." Booth said adding two more hours to what his body was feeling made it almost eleven back in Washington.

"Since three, I think. Dalton left around five and I've been sorting since they got here." She calculated with and hand on her eyes. "I sorted males and females, then by age and size." Brennan pointed to all the piles around the room, but the sorted was still considerably smaller than the unsorted.

"Do you have any complete skeletons?" He asked impressed by the process she had taken in sorting the remains.

"No, but what I can tell you is that at least half are over the age of 55." Brennan said almost excitedly, her blue eyes sparkled as she went into detail of the victims. "I haven't been able to determine a cause of death that points to murder or to our victim."

"Meaning?" Booth asked, he could almost see the cogs and wheels turning in her brilliant mind.

"Meaning that this is just a burial ground," Brennan answered, Booth squinted trying to catch where she was thinking. "The remains haven't been there that long, but until Hodgins gets the particulates my guess is in the range of six months to twenty five years."

"So like a cemetery?" He questioned again.

"Yes and the way the bodies were positioned may have some religious connotation." Brennan answered excitedly. "I've emailed the pictures to the Jeffersonian and Doctor Goodman would know what or who to make it out too."

"Good job Bones, I'm impressed." Booth said looking at his watch again as the long hand ticked toward the fifteen. "Hyde is waiting for us outside, what do you say we head back to the hotel, order some room service and watch a movie. I even have your dental and medical records for you to go over. Your brain can use a break for a little while."

She chuckled and pulled off her latex gloves. "You sure take advantage of the Bureau when it's them paying the tab." She teased.

His face fell, caught off guard. "No, remember the receptionist this morning said we get everything for free because we are sharing a room."Booth said. "And are you calling me cheap?"

"Yes." Brennan answered, grabbing the file with all her work.

"Come-on Ms. Six-Figure-A-Year, Hyde is waiting for us in the parking lot." He scoffed, putting a hand on her lower back and they walked out of the lab.

--

It was almost eleven when they finished eating their meal and the tired anthropologist had taken a shower when Booth laid on his stomach with his head closest to the TV watching _Forgetting Sarah Marshall _on the bed closest to the windowas Brennan laid against the backboard on her own bed reading over the notes that Booth had given her.

He turned to watch her as she held up both sets of x-rays to do a comparative match of the dental records. "The victim is Elisa Grant, the dentals match."

"Alright, we'll visit her husband tomorrow." Booth said, turning back towards the TV.

She slid back, resting her head on the pillow and started to read over the toxicology report before falling asleep quietly. It wasn't until the movie ended that the agent looked back to his sleeping partner and smiled.

A soft tap on the door caught his attention and he grabbed the holster with his gun in it before padding bare foot to the door. Looking through the hole, he opened the door and on the other side stood their shrink with a suitcase in his hand. "Sweets?" Booth asked with a sigh and stepping into hallway to allow the door to push by. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Doctor Brennan needed a consult and I was in the area for a wedding." Sweets explained with his cocky smile.

"She told me she emailed Doctor Goodman." Booth said, confused.

"She did, he forwarded it me." Sweets said. "Like I said, I was in the area and I was actually flying back today when Doctor Saroyan called me to tell me that you were already in Salt Lake."

He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at his suitcase. "Where are you staying?" He asked, motioning to the bag at his feet.

"I don't know yet, I checked out of my hotel and was on my way towards the car rental place. I was going to see if they have a spare room here, but it seems that this weekend is not the best for spontaneous travel." Sweets answered with a slight chuckle.

Booth sighed again and opened the door to the room. "Come in." He said leading him into the room and a gasp escaped from his lips when he took notice of Doctor Brennan asleep on her back with a file lying across her chest. "She just fell asleep, I'd prefer if you didn't wake her."

Sweets placed his suitcase on the table quietly, looking at the second bed and taking note that it had been occupied, whereas half of Brennan's bed was untouched. Booth stood over her bed and gathered the papers that stacked all over her bed and placed them neatly on the nightstand. "What is the case about?" Sweets asked curiously.

"A set of remains were found in a vehicle that was on fire." Booth whispered as he pulled his own paperwork and computer that sat on his bed. "You can take my bed."

"Where will you sleep?" Sweets asked, looking to the very small couch in the corner of the room, suddenly feeling guilty for kicking him out of the bed.

Booth pointed towards the bed with Brennan in it, his eyes widened. "Unless you want to sleep on the couch that is probably two feet shorter than you are." Booth said reading his mind and Sweets shook his head negatively, leaning over to whisper to the woman. "Bones."

Her eyes fluttered open slightly and she looked at him confused. "Sweets is here and he needs a place to stay." Booth explained slowly so she could register. "Do you mind if I share a bed with you?"

She nodded. "Why is he here?" She asked, her blue eyes glowing with confusion.

"Don't worry about it, just go back to sleep." He said softly, gaining a nod from the woman. Brennan closed her eyes and rolled to her side facing the wall. Booth got to his feet and walked back to the door, locking the deadbolt and moving the chain in its place. "It's late, Sweets. . ."

"I won't take long, I just need to change." He said, grabbing this things and walking passed him towards the bathroom.

Booth crawled into bed with his partner, pulling up the heavy comforter before turning on his side so he was back to back with his partner, his long legs stretching to the end of the bed and accidently brushing her legs with his foot. She jumped and opened her eyes. "Sorry." He said.

"Your feet are cold." She mumbled, burying her face into the pillow and falling back to sleep.

Sweets came out of the bathroom after watching the partners interact on the bed with a wide smile and turned the lights off behind him before crawling into bed, making a mental note to document everything for his book and he too fell into a quiet slumber.


	5. Suspicions and Subtle Cues

**Title:** Multiples in the Family

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Bones and Big Love are owned by their relative networks (FOX/HBO) no money is made from the story, unfortunately. I've added a lot of fluff into this chapter, if you are allergic to said fluff, you might want to grab your Epi or a tissue.

**Rating:** T

**Chapter:** Suspicions and Subtle Cues.

Her internal clock woke her up to a dark room and another body close to her. The arm that belonged to the other body was under her head like a pillow and warm breath in her face, forcing her eyes to adjust to the darkness to see that the arm belonged to her partner. Brennan sat up slightly and looked at the alarm clock on the other side of Booth to reveal the LED lights that read four.

Booth sighed signaling that she had woke him up, but he didn't open his eyes. "Go back to sleep Bones." He mumbled burying his face into his pillow.

"It's the time I always wake up, Booth." She complained sitting up more fully and letting off a shiver, the early Utah air was chilled even in the dark hotel room.

"Consider it a free pass to sleep in its two hours behind here." He whispered as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace, wrapping his arms tightly around her small frame and resting his head on her shoulder.

"I don't have time to sleep in, Booth. I have a mass grave to identify and . . ." She said, but she laid still with her back against his broad chest, lacing her fingers through his at her stomach.

Her intimacy caught him slightly off guard. "It will wait Bones and besides we don't want to wake the kid." She had forgotten about Sweets and why Booth was in her bed in the first place. It was if he could read her mind because he was so close to her and he spoke again. "Cam called him for your consult and he was already here for a wedding or something."

"Oh." She said quietly and smiled before falling to a silence. "I didn't ask for him, what are his qualifications in ritualistic burials. . ."

"Go to sleep, Bones." He whispered and soon his breathing evened out signaling that he had fallen back to sleep. She took a deep breath and she too fell asleep.

~*~

The wakeup call rang at six o'clock Mountain Standard Time and Sweets was first to jump out of bed, and scurry to the bathroom before Booth and Brennan untangled themselves from their arms. Booth sat up slowly, stretching his tired muscles and chuckled. "I'm surprised he made it through the night." He commented on Sweets' rush.

"I'm sure Sweets' bladder is fully developed." She commented, and Booth frowned as he feared that she missed his joke. "Or he stopped drinking liquids after six p.m." The pair shared a laugh as they both wondered to their respective suitcases to grab their things for their turn to the bathroom.

The door opened and the sleep tousled psychologist shot the pair a glare, clearly not enjoying their joke about his age. "My bladder is just fine, thank you." He answered walking back to the table where is things sat in disarray.

Brennan shrugged off his glare before taking her turn in the bathroom and shut the door with a soft click of the latch. Booth sat on his bed and flipped on the TV, settling for the local news before Sweets said anything. "Care to tell me about the case." He said, glancing at traffic report.

Booth explained the case until Brennan came out of the fully dressed, hair curly and barefoot, allowing Sweets to go next. She sat next to Booth on the bed and frowned in the mirror next to him. "What?" He asked, seeing her frown in the reflection.

"I didn't dry my hair last night, now it's a curly mess."She answered, brushing her bangs out of the way. It almost made him chuckled to see how she was dressed in a light blue over shirt and perfect curls down her back compared to his Steelers t-shirt and hair sticking up in every direction and she was complaining about curly hair.

"I kind of like it." Booth complimented, bumping her with his shoulder as a flush of red filled her cheeks. "Now go put your shoes on and go in search of coffee." She smiled and bumped him back before she left in search of breakfast.

~*~

It was another hour before the three left in Sweets' rental car and a call to the other FBI agents that they headed south towards the address of the husband of the dead woman. Sweets drove cautiously on the freeway during rush hour traffic, causing Booth to grumble moodily from the passenger seat and Brennan in the backseat reading over the file.

Booth gave another annoyed sigh as the psychologist merged into the exit lane and a horn honked at the car and made him grip tighter to the wheel nervously. "If you're that nervous, you should let me drive." Booth said after a long silence. "I won't get us killed."

"It ok, I'm just. . ." Sweets started. "I know where we are going."

Another annoyed sigh escaped the agent's lips earning a swift kick in the seat from his partner. "Will you calm down please?" She hissed into his ear.

"Why aren't you pestering him to let you drive?" He retorted, folding his arms like a pouting child.

She ignored him. The rest of the ride was silent as Sweets parked the car on a street in a higher class tree lined neighborhood and the house that matched the address was modest in size with cleanly cut grass and not a leaf out of place on the lawn. Booth was first to get out of the car and took long strides to the door, but waited for the others to catch up before knocking.

The door matched the street, with its small stained glass framing both sides, he reached for the doorbell and pressed the button before stepping back to seem less imposing and waited as the little patter of feet rushing to the door followed by a stern voice telling them to not answer the door and a blonde woman opened the door cautiously. "You guys don't usually travel in threes." She said in a retort. "Look, I'm happy with my religion so you can take your Book of Mormon and put it to someone who will listen."

"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth with the FBI." He said pulling out his badge, slightly amused that she had confused them with missionaries. It made sense because both men were dressed in suits, but wasn't sure where his partner fit in. "This is my partner Doctor Temperance Brennan and this is Lance Sweets."

"The FBI?" She squeaked. "Please come in pardon the mess, I'm watching my neighbor's children." She stepped aside allowing them entrance as two little blond boys ran past being chased by a darker haired boy, a toddler was asleep in the playpen in the sitting room. "What can I do for the FBI?"

"We are looking for a Nathan Grant." Booth said as they followed her into a sitting room that looked to be from a magazine.

"That's my brother." She said with a frown. "But he has never lived here."

"We found a bracelet that was bought and paid for by him, the address on the credit card that was used was traced back to here." Brennan clarified as the boys ran through the room again, screaming with joy.

"Was the card in his name?" She asked suspiciously and glaring at the direction the boys ran in.

"It was in his name, Ms. . ." Booth answered, but realized that they hadn't gotten the woman's name.

"It's Nikki." She filled in. "Why in my address? Excuse me, but is he in some kind of trouble?"

"We are looking for him in connection to a murder." Booth explained simply, lowering his voice so the boys didn't hear.

"A murder? And you found a bracelet on the scene" She said in a whisper as the boys ran through again and the smallest was crying hysterically, grabbing the blond woman around her legs wanting her attention. "What's wrong honey? Will you excuse me for a moment, I am going to wake up my neighbor and have her come get these guys." She turned on her heels and walked out of the room.

"She looks like those super religious girls that I went to high school with." Sweets commented folding his arms and began to do his profile on the woman. "The conservative hair style and the modest clothes, she stereotypically looks like . . ."

He stopped talking when Booth glared at him and Brennan placed a hand on his arm to defuse the situation. A squeal from the sliding glass door in the kitchen caught their attention as a very pregnant woman waddled into the room. "Oh my god, you're Temperance Brennan," She cried excitedly, Brennan flushed and took her extended hand. "I just love your books."

"Thank you." She said with a smile.

The woman assumed it was opened ended. "Margene, I'm Nikki's neighbor." She pointed to the brunet boy and the toddler. "Those two are mine." She pulled the crying boy from Nikki and gathered him into his arms.

Booth elbowed her motioning for her to help the woman gather the four children. "I could help you." She almost squeaked.

"That would be great." She said excitedly and allowed for the anthropologist to pick up the sleeping child from the play pen, looking for reassurance from her partner and gained a smile from him. The sleeping boy cuddled deeper into her warmth and she stood in awe. Margene came back with the two blonde boys and the brunet boy in her arms. "I've caught all of the munchkins, if you will follow me I will take you next door."

She looked for her partner for reassurance and smiled, following the woman back through the kitchen and out the sliding glass door.

"Won't you please have a seat?" Nikki said motioning to the couches and they both took a seat on the ends of the long couch. "Would you like anything to drink?" Both men shook their head negatively and the woman took her seat on the chair.

"Do you know where we can find your brother?" Asked Booth with a grim smile and pulled out his small notebook.

"I haven't heard from him in a very long time." She answered.

"When was the last time you heard from him?" Sweets asked before Booth could ask.

"I'm not sure, it has been months." She answered again, trying to not get frustrated. Booth watched her closely for signs that she was protecting the man.

"How exactly is he related to you?" Sweets asked and Booth found it to be an odd question, but remained quiet on the couch.

"He is my younger brother." She answered, obviously not bothered by it. Booth watched as Sweets adapted to the question and kept going.

"Do you know anyone named Elisa?" It was Booth's turn to ask the question.

"That is Nathan's wife, what does she has to do with anything? Is she also a suspect in a murder, I mean that woman had her flaws, but not enough to kill anybody." Nikki said. "I mean, she was due to give birth any day now and I doubt she could move let alone kill somebody."

"Elisa was two days ago." Booth said, breaking the news.

The woman paled almost as white as her shirt and she jumped to her feet, pacing in the small quarters of the sitting room. Her eyes started to flow with tears and remained silent. "What about the baby?"

"We think it was kidnapped, the Bureau is looking into hospitals in the valley. We need to know if you know anything about the whereabouts of your brother or if you know anything about the infant." Booth pressed.

"I don't know anything about more." She cried, taking a seat on the chair again and burying her face in her hands. "Last time I heard from Nathan she was only six months pregnant, but I haven't seen him since they were married."

Booth allowed her to calm down before he got to his feet. Pulling out his card, he handed it to the blonde woman. "Will you call us if he contacts you?" He asked.

"Of course." She sniffed. "I'll walk you over to Doctor Brennan."

The two men followed her through the sliding glass door and she pulled open the fence to another massive backyard with a swimming pool surrounded by a fence. A small worn path in the grass led the way to another sliding glass door, where Brennan was sitting on a stool talking animatedly with Margene.

The door slid open and the partners made eye contact that didn't go unnoticed by the shrink. "Are you ready to go?" Booth asked.

Brennan turned to the pregnant woman with a smile. "It was great talking to you, Margene." Brennan said not forcing her sincerity. She got to her feet and stood next to her partner with a smile.

"No, it was my pleasure to talk with you. I just love your work and I just think you are amazing." She boasted in her wide eyed optimism. She lead the trio out the similar front door of the house and watched as they walked to the car parked in front of the next yard, Booth getting into the driver's seat, Brennan taking the passenger and Sweets sat in the back, arms folded and pouting.

He turned the key into the ignition and pulled away from the curb. "Did you find out anything from Nikki?" Brennan asked.

"She says she doesn't know anything, but I'm so sure." Answered Booth.

"That's not what Margene said." Brennan said, gaining a side glance from her partner and Sweets' head peaked through the seats with interest. "Margene was telling me that Nathan Grant showed up on her front porch yesterday, confusing her house with Nikki's house."

"She knows who he is?" Asked Sweets surprised.

"She told me the whole history about him." Brennan said excitedly. "I guess he is what they call a lost boy." She pulled out the file and started to write notes on the paperwork.

"A lost boy?" Booth asked, unsure what Peter Pan had to do with it and was sure she had the term wrong.

"A lost boy is a teenager that is kicked out of the polygamist compound for lack of faith, not willing to marry, premarital sex or other various reasons. I heard that they are infamous for causing trouble down south." Sweets filled in excitedly. "Sex, drugs and rock n'roll, they end up in jail or killed."

"But Nathan Grant came back and pleaded with the prophet Roman Grant to be allowed back into the community two years later. Roman told him that he had to repent and take a wife, a year later he married Elisa." Brennan explained in detail.

"She lied to us." Booth said with a frown. "I will call Hyde and have him pick her up for questioning."

A heavy silence fell upon the car and it wasn't until Sweets spoke five minutes later. "You know what that means, right?" He asked and Booth shook his head motioning him to continue. "I think she's a polygamist, I mean come on the apple doesn't fall far telling from the tree."

"You can't assume everyone from Utah is a polygamist, Sweets. . ."Booth started but was interrupted by Brennan.

"I think it's plausible." She answered, surprising Booth. "Did you see the boys? Their genetic similarities are uncanny, the eye color is the most noticeable, and the definition in the zygomatic bone and the detached earlobes is only a start."

Booth rolled his eyes before Sweets added to it. "I would be willing to put money on the fact that she is Roman Grant's daughter." He added with a smile. "Why else would she lie to the FBI? She is covering for her brother who killed his wife and ran off with the baby."

"That is all conjecture." Booth commented.

Brennan nodded her head in agreement. "We still don't have all the evidence yet and we don't know if the mass grave has anything to do with Nathan or Elisa Grant."

"That would be one hell of a coincidence." Booth commented before pulling into the university parking lot. "We'll be back later after we have a chat with Nikki Grant."

"Call when you're finished?" She asked her smile made her glow and Booth's breath hitch in his throat that went unnoticed by the shrink who had climbed out to sit in the front seat.

"Of course." He said with a smile as she stepped back to allow Sweets to sit and shut the door. He pulled back with one last glance and she took the steps to the entrance of the forensics lab.


	6. Sweets in the Lab

Title: The Multiples in the Family

Author: SplishySplash

Pairing: Booth/Brennan

Spoilers: Up to Yanks in the UK

Chapter 6: Sweets in the Lab

It wasn't long after Booth and Sweets had arrived at the FBI building that they were sitting on hard chairs in an interrogation room across from the blond they had met earlier in the day. Booth smiled politely at the woman and folded his arms across his broad chest. "Ms. Grant, are you sure you don't want a lawyer because if you can't afford one, one will be assigned to you." He said.

"I already told you, I don't have anything to do with Elisa and I don't know where my brother is." She snapped, her face was red with annoyance and her hair was falling out of her well placed braid.

"Witnesses say that they saw him at your house yesterday morning." Sweets said pointedly, knowing that it wasn't the complete truth because he had knocked on the neighbor's door by accident.

"So what if he was? I wasn't home." She snapped again.

"If you are harboring a suspect, you can go to jail as an accessory to murder . . ." Booth answered growing annoyed by the woman when Hyde peeked through the door.

"Booth? There is someone here that needs to talk with you." He insisted, his voice straining to stay neutral. "Right now, please."

Booth jumped to his feet and went out the door to find a well dressed man standing next to Dalton. "Are you Ms. Grant's lawyer?" He asked formally.

The dark haired man frowned before he spoke. "Not quite, I am her husband." He said folding his arms and trying to intimidate the agents. "I am her power of attorney."

"I'm sorry, but that's not quite how it works." Booth said raising a brow and turned on his heels to head back into the interrogation.

He stopped in his tracks when the man spoke. "I know you are looking for Nathan Grant and I know who can tell you where he is." The man said firmly, as if he knew the right thing to make him listen. Booth motioned for him to follow him into the interrogation room with him, but a hand placed on his arm made Booth stop again. "I would rather not do this in front of her."

Booth nodded turning on his heels and leading the man down the hall to a small break room, Dalton followed with a slightly appalled look on her face. Booth drew out a chair on the small table, motioning for him to sit as he pulled one out for Dalton as he chose to lean against the counter. "Alright Mr. Hendrickson, tell us a story."

He took a deep breath as if he was choosing his next words wisely. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he spoke. "I have it under strong suspicion that Nathan Grant could be hiding in Juniper Creek, a compound about an hour south of here.

"Great we will send someone down there to pick him up." Booth said, clapping his hands together. Dalton's mouth opened slightly as if she had a question, but didn't ask it.

"You can't just march in there with guns all ablaze." Bill said as if it was bright as day. "Roman Grant has power like you wouldn't believe and if you are not careful he will turn it around to being religious persecution."

"What makes you think that Nathan Grant is with him on the compound?" Booth asked after a moment of silence.

Bill gave an annoyed sigh. "He is one of Roman's favorite sons he's always going to go back to the nest and especially when he's in trouble." He explained folding his arms across his chest. His words contradicted what his neighbor had said earlier about him being banished from the compound.

"Your neighbor told us that Nathan Grant was a lost boy, but doesn't that mean he was banished from the compound?" Booth asked with a frown.

A hand came to the man's face and rubbed his tired eyes. "He was banished. I don't know why though, but after I married his sister, he went back to the compound and asked his father for forgiveness, repented and became one of his favorites by taking a wife that Roman assigned. He became fruitful and he started to multiply and replenish the earth." Booth shivered as Bill quoted the bible.

They sat in silence for a moment before Booth spoke up. "Why would he show up at your house with a credit card in your address?" Booth asked twirling his pen aimlessly.

"I don't know, for all I know he doesn't know where I live." Bill said and then his face lit up as if he thought of something. "Nikki must have been keeping contact with him after I had asked to minimize all contact with the compound."

"Why would you do that?" Booth asked, tapping the pen on the table and becoming more agitated with the questioning.

"I try to cut my ties with Juniper Creek and if I by a small chance do have contact, it's at a minimum." Bill said with remorse.

Dalton shuffled from her spot next to Booth and changed the subject. "Will you be able to get us a meeting with Roman Grant?" She said with a forced smile, Booth glared at her because he wasn't finished questioning.

He sighed. "If it will get you to leave my family out of this, I will." Bill said and got to his feet. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to take my wife home." The woman nodded and held out her hand for him to follow her to the interrogation room.

*~*

Brennan stood in the midst of the remains of the mass grave and bent over the remains of her fifth victim without a clear cause of death, causing her to grow frustrated. The students around her worked quietly on their own set of remains bringing the complete body count to twelve with many more remains yet to be pieced together. As she started her next set, the elderly professor placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to jump in surprise.

She turned around to face him. "I'm sorry to have startled you Doctor Brennan, but you have a call from the Jeffersonian." He said. She nodded her thanks and snapped her gloves off her wrist, following the man to the satellite linked computer that sat next to the original set of remains.

Jack Hodgins stood on the other side of the screen with his bright smile. "Hello Doctor B." He said brightly. "Woah Doctor B, you look great this morning."

"What do you have for me?" She asked, mustering up a smile despite her aching muscles and using all of her self control to will the blush away.

He clapped his hands together before he spoke excitedly. "I ran the analysis on the data you sent me from the skull and she wasn't shot." He said. "I found traces of silt that matched the sample you sent to the wound. Angela has been running scenarios . . ." Angela's smiling face filled the screen next to the entomologist.

". . . Of all plausible causes." She interrupted, giving Hodgins a small shove out of the way. "Hi Sweetie, you look great this morning."

"Thanks Angela, now can you tell me the plausible causes." She said to the point and looked down at the remains on the table to hide the color creeping up her cheeks.

"She was pushed and it could've been an accident." The screen changed to show the scenario as drawn up by the Angelator. "Or a huge rock with a pointy end was thrown at her with deadly accuracy."

She ignored her sarcasm and kept on the point. "But that doesn't explain the fact why her fingers tips were cut off and why she was set on fire." Brennan said, pulling on another pair of gloves and searched the remains for answers.

"Someone was trying to cover something." Hodgins conjectured with a hand under his chin. "Did you find anything about the infant?"

"I found knife marks on her ribs suggesting that someone performed crude caesarean section. The baby came out, but whether it was alive or not, I can't tell." Brennan answered, picking up the pelvis to examine it further. "And it definitely didn't come out of the birth canal."

"What about the mass grave? Did you have any luck with that?" Asked Cam, coming up between Angela and Hodgins with her arms folded.

"Yes, we've managed to sort a good portion of the remains." Brennan answered.

"Was Sweets any help in the process?" Cam asked, knowing that both the agent and the anthropologist were annoyed by the call that she made. "I don't see him around."

Brennan huffed slightly. "That is because he is with Booth interrogating a possible suspect and to answer your question, no he hasn't been any help. We were able to find a pattern in the placement of the remains that has helped in the identification process."

A chuckle came from the three in the lab. "He said he has experience in that kind of things."

"He hasn't shown any experience, all he has done so far is aggravate Booth and take up. . ." Brennan started when a random star stricken student approached her and stood into her space. She turned on her heels and sent a questioning look to the girl. "Can I help you?"

"We found four sets of remains that could possibly be murder victims." She said with her voice raised in pitch.

Her eyes grew wide and she quickly dismissed her colleges with a promise to call them back before following the young student to a set of tables in the corner with four sets of remains laying on them. She pointed to the table closer and started to explain the find. "This is the sixth guy we recovered, a male between the age of fifty five and sixty years old." She pointed to the large hole in his skull. "A bullet hole through the frontal bone with an exit through the occipital bone is the likely cause of death."

Brennan picked up the school and examined it. "There is a chance that this a suicide and the placement of the bullet seems too coincidental. Keep working on him." Her attention turned to the other three that sat close together and she looked to another student for clarification.

"These ladies are number sixteen, twenty and twenty one in relation to the pattern." Said another student, picking up one of the skulls and he pointed to the fracture. "All the remains are adolescent females about the same age of sixteen through nineteen, each with crushing fractures on their skulls. It's very well that all three girls were killed by the same person, matching the remains from the car."

The doctor shook her head. "Not necessarily." Brennan said the rest of the students stopped to listen to her explanation. "You have to take into account of when and where they died they may have fallen and struck their head on some sort of surface or pushed. The probability of the first set of remains . . ." She paused and squinted at the pelvic region, it was wider to allow for an infant to pass through. Brennan slightly gasped as she noted that the ribs had matching knick marks as Elisa Grant had. "We need to move these remains next to the first one."

Four students took the task of moving the remains where she asked as she began the tedious work of identifying when the girls had died and taking dental x-rays to find the identity.

It was near seven when Booth and Sweets wandered into the empty lab with their loud footsteps, breaking the silence. "It seems that you got a lot done today." Booth commented to Brennan, who was standing over another set of remains.

She stood to full height slowly with her muscles aching in protest and turned to face him. "We were able to sort at least half of them before they were dismissed." She answered with a tired smile. "After deciphering a pattern to the placement of the remains it was smooth sailing."

Booth was caught off guard by her use of the metaphor. "Excellent use of the metaphor, Bones." He said with a smile as they both watched Sweets wander through the maze of remains that have yet to be put together.

"Did you find any personal effects with the victims?" Asked Sweets, looking intrigued as he crossed to the other side of the room taking in the sorted victims.

"No." Answered Brennan and turning back to the set of remains that she was working on before they walked in. Booth looked over her shoulder and watched as she examined a rib. "There wasn't anything, Hodgins says they died somewhere else and were buried there after decomposition."

"Is there a way to promote rapid decomposition?" Sweets asked.

"Fire for sure." She answered simply. "But only one of them has been burned and that was the one from the car. Boiling with water or filleting with a knife, but none of the remains show signs of that. Chemicals. . ." Stopping abruptly, she turned to the remains and smiled before reaching around Booth to grab the saw.

"Wait what?" Booth asked, cursing her quick moving mind. "Why is there four remains over here?" He noticed the three new remains and couldn't discern the original from the others.

"Three more young girls were found with similar wounds to their skulls and knife marks on the ribs." Brennan said as she looked for her goggles in the place that she grabbed the saw and frowned when they weren't where she left them. She stepped around Booth to open the drawer only to be disappointed that they weren't there either, Booth turned around and watched with a smile before grabbing her wrist, turning her to face him. She stopped and looked him in the eye, watching him tentatively as he reached up and pushed the yellow safety glasses off the top of her head to fall onto her eyes. A small flush of red crept up her cheeks causing her to break eye contact and look at the remains.

"Did the same thing happen to them?" Booth asked with an amused smile, it wasn't often that he was able to fluster her.

"Not quite. Only Elisa was burned and her finger tips cut, but all four have matching wounds on their head to conclude that they all died in the same fashion of falling and striking their head on a hard surface. All four were pregnant and no remains of infants have been found, but don't disregard the knife marks on their lower ribs." She explained gaining her control back and folded her arms, momentarily forgetting what she was doing. "I'm going to cut out some of the bone marrow to get a tox-screen and DNA, Hodgins should get my soil samples by tomorrow and I can figure out when they died and if they have anything to do with Elisa."

He nodded "When you are done with that we are out of here. I'm hungry." He said and wandered away to find the psychologist who had disappeared down a flight of stairs where more remains were being worked on. His footsteps caused the younger man to jump and causing the magnifying glass in his hand fall on to the table knocking a line of glass beakers onto the floor and spreading the glass across the floor.

"Booth, you startled me." He said and his face fell, praying that the anthropologist didn't hear the loud shattering of the glass.

Booth smiled broadly awaiting for Brennan's head to poke over the top of the stairs to investigate the crash, but to the psychologists luck she was still sawing into the bones for samples. "You are lucky she didn't hear that." Booth teased bumping him with his shoulder. "She would probably kick your ass."

He paled slightly, never wanting to be on the bad side of the anthropologist especially after reading her file and seeing her argue with the agent with such passion. His gaze transferred to the glass on the floor. "What do we do with the glass?" He asked in a higher pitch.

The agent smiled as he took two steps to the younger man and used his shoe to shove the glass under the table, Sweets' mouth dropped slightly as he watched Booth hide the mess. "See, now what Bones doesn't know isn't going to hurt her, right?" He said coyly.

Sweets chuckled nervously as Brennan's voice rang from the stairway. "What have I told you about touching things Booth?" She asked, with her arms folded and a frown on her lips.

Booth's hand rested on a very expensive microscope and he quickly moved his hand, resting it on his side. For a brief moment the psychologist thought that Booth was going to rat him out to the anthropologist. "Not to touch anything because I tend to break them is that correct?" Booth asked with a cocky smile. Sweets watch their interaction with fascination, they were excluding him again and if he didn't know better they were flirting with each other.

"That is correct." She said, a smile breaking her stony face. "The DNA test is running, are you ready to leave?"

The two men nodded and she turned on her heels, taking off her lab coat and Sweets let out the breath he was holding. Booth turned to face him again with the same smile. "What? Did you think I was going to feed you to the wolves?"

"Yeah, a little bit." Sweets said as they headed back to the stairway.

Booth leaned in slightly and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Want to know a secret?" He asked, gaining a nod from the psychologist. "She's not as scary as she seems, Bones is really a big softie."

Sweets laughed as Brennan stood at the top of the stairs again. "Are you coming?" She asked, her voice tinged with annoyance.

"We're coming." Booth said as he took the steps two at a time until he came face to face with the antsy anthropologist. "Hungry?"

"Yes, I am. Now let's go." Brennan said with another bright smile and Sweets just shook his head, following the partners out of the lab.

*~*~*

It wasn't long until they were back in the hotel after eating dinner and Booth sat on the bed with his back to the head board and a file sitting lazily on his lap while his eyes focused on the TV. Brennan had voted to take a shower and the water hissed from the bathroom while Sweets sat on the couch typing furiously on his computer and occasionally voicing his opinion about the show that Booth was watching, but was growing irritated as Booth constantly changed the channel.

"Will you pick something and please leave it there?"He asked after awhile.

Booth ignored him, only turning the volume up and switched from the local news to a Spanish speaking channel to the movie Speed which he sat the remote down and picked up the file containing his partners notes from the day.

Her cell phone started to ring on the nightstand next to him and without missing a beat he muted the TV and answered it. "Doctor Brennan's phone." He said, Sweets looked up from the computer looking slightly appalled, the voice on the other end talked loudly that he could almost decipher what the voice was saying. "Well she just got in the shower and she will be out soon. . ." The voice grew frantic before he spoke again. "Alright I'll get her, hang on." He sat the file that was on his lap on the bed and got up, knocking on the bathroom door. "Bones, it's your editor and she really, really needs to talk to you."

The water stopped and in seconds she opened the door with her hair greasy from the conditioner and one leg partly covered in shaving cream, wrapped in a towel with water dripping onto the floor. She took the phone and held it to her ear. "Karen?" She asked, and the woman started speaking loudly and very quickly. "I'm sorry, but I'm out of town working on a case . . .Okay, Okay I will send it, right now." She rolled her eyes. "I'm sending it, it will be there as soon as possible."

She brushed past Booth, leaving him slightly wide eyed. She walked to her computer and opened the lid when Sweets noticed that she was standing there. "It's finished, Karen. . ." She said almost snapping at the woman on the phone. Her fingers danced quickly on the key board as she leaned over the table, giving her partner a look at her shapely figure underneath the white terry cloth. "Okay I just sent it and no I'm not going to wait, I only have less than a minute with this conditioner and I need to wash it out, have a good night." She hung up without waiting for a goodbye and threw her phone on the bed.

"I take it that you missed a deadline?" Booth said with a chuckle as he sat on the edge of the bed with his arms folded.

She frowned and stomped her foot impatiently. "The deadline is at midnight and she gets a little upset when I don't send it hours before." She said.

Booth looked at his watch. "Well it's almost midnight in Washington D.C." He said, Sweets watched their comfortable conversation even with her lack of clothing. "I can see why she panicked because you are very prompt to a fault."

"A fault?" She questioned, her voice rising in pitch and she shook her head. "I will argue this later." She trotted past the bed and into the shower, before the hiss of the shower was heard in the room.

It was silence between the two men before Sweets spoke for the first time since complaining about the TV. "Woah." He said with his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape.

Booth threw a pillow at him, hitting him squarely in the face. "Will you please stop eyeing my partner?" He asked in almost a growl. But he couldn't complain, her legs seemed to go on for miles even though one leg was covered in shaving cream and the towel didn't leave much to the imagination and hugged her curves perfectly.

"Defensive much?" He asked, tossing it back to him and grinned, he had the upper hand.

"Defensive?" He asked with a raised brow.

"It seems to me that you get defensive when anybody looks at your partner like that, I mean looking at her like. . ." Sweets analyzed, tossing the pillow back.

"She's a piece of meat being fed to the wolves." Booth finished for him, but grew quiet as the water stopped. "And I don't get defensive." He turned the sound up on the TV and focused his attention on the high speed chase that was on the movie.

"Yes you do and its because there is enough sexual tension between the two of you . . ."He said with a smile and stopped when a fully dressed Brennan came out of the bathroom. Her hair was tied up with a towel on the top of her head as she placed her things in her bag and sat on the bed, taking the file from Booths lap. "Is everything alright?" She asked, taking notice of the tension that built up.

"Fine." Said Sweets with a smug smile and turned his attention back to his work.

"Everything is fine." Booth said, grabbing the file from her and setting it on the bedside table. "No more work for tonight, your brain might turn to gelatin."

"Booth it's physically impossible for your brain to turn to gelatin, it's not even made of the same compound." She said, pulling her hair out of the towel and sprinkling some water on her partner gaining a shove from her.

"Well, the point is that you've worked too damn hard today and you need a break." Booth said as Sweets shut his computer and turned the light off, before crawling into bed. Brennan laid her head on the pillow and Booth followed, shutting off the TV.

She rolled on to her side away from him, suddenly very conscious of the proximity of her partner. He rolled over and placed an arm around her and after the snores came from the shrink that he whispered into her ear. "Bones?"

"Yes, Booth." She whispered.

"What your opinion on puritan modesty?" He asked with a chuckle, she buried her face into the pillow as he felt the heat radiating off of her and he was about to roll back over, when she grabbed a hold of his hand to keep him there and they soon fell asleep.


	7. Scenes from a Compound

Title: The Multiples in the Family

Author: SplishySplash, Ihave207Bones

Spoiler: Up to Pain in the Heart

Pairing: B/B

Summary: A case brings Booth and Brennan to Utah where they come into contact with the concept of polygamy and a murder.

Chapter 7

The alarm buzzed loudly bringing the occupants from their deep, content slumber. Sweets was the first one to jump out of the bed, turn on the center light and loudly start to go through his things gaining a groan from Booth, whose face was buried into the hair of his partner. "Haven't you ever heard of the invention called a snooze button, kid?" Booth asked with his eyes closed, his partner stirred with her face in the crook of his neck, but her eyes remained closed and a small smile on her face.

"Yes I have, but . . ." He started when Booth lobbed a pillow at him, for having his eyes closed it hit its target of squarely in the back. "Hey!"

Booth was prepared for another assault, stealing Brennan's pillow in the process when she placed a hand on his arm. "Leave him alone, Booth." She said in his ear. He placed the pillow back down on his legs and slowly sat up with her in tow.

Sweets scoffed and took his things into the bathroom with a glare. A wave of laughter went through the pair and Brennan got up, her hair curly and out of place as she crossed the room towards things, grabbing her computer and bringing it back to the bed. With her back to the backboard, she booted it up as Booth rolled to his side to see the screen with his head in his hand.

He read over her shoulder as she checked her emails and occasionally commenting on the contents. As they read over Angela's update of the day an email from Hodgins appeared at the top of the screen. Clicking on it revealed that he had discovered that all the people had grown up in the same place and that some of them were related, a passing from Cam and that it would probably be easier to explained then written bringing a laugh from Booth, it was euphemism for he didn't want to type it out.

Brennan closed the program and clicked on the webcam program. It wasn't long until Hodgins smiling face was on the other end. "Well good morning." He said brightly and leaning back in the chair he was sitting in, amusement glowing from his face.

"Good morning." Brennan said with a smile.

"Mornin'" Booth said lazily. A sly smile came to Hodgins face as he gathered that they were still in bed and in bed together. "What do you have for us?"

His face fell slightly. "How come you get to sleep in?" He asked and Brennan's eyebrow raised expectantly. "Right, all the people who were buried there grew up in the same place, including the girl from the car and the absence of fluoride in their system can definitely tell you that they didn't live anywhere near Salt Lake or any major city."

"Do you have an idea as to where they are from?" Brennan asked, reaching over Booth to grab the hair tie from the night stand.

"Probably somewhere really rural and it closely matches the makeup of St. George, Utah which is down south about three and a half hours from Salt Lake." Hodgins said and grew distracted as Brennan's arms stretched above her head to put her hair in the tie, exposing her stomach slightly.

Booth snapped his fingers to get his attention back. "Where they buried before they were moved?" Booth asked, glaring slightly at the entomologist.

"What? No, the particulates match the place they were found." Hodgins said, flushing slightly.

Brennan looked at Booth, sensing that she was missing something. "Then how were the bones separated without years of decomposition?" Booth asked, gaining surprised looks from the entomologist, anthropologist and the newly arrived pathologist. "What? I pay attention to the words I understand."

"They were probably boiled and then moved." Brennan answered, looking to Cam for that answer.

She nodded. "They were boiled, but the real question is what happened to the organs." She asked, her looked matched the entomologist as she noticed that they were sitting on a bed and Booth's head was practically resting on her stomach.

"They were cut out." Brennan answered. "There were consistent knick on the ribs to indicate that they were cut out."

Hodgins shifted and pulled out a clipboard from out of view. "The real confusing thing is that the oldest set of remains, which was the first one in the square, had been there since the mid 1840's and each consecutive one after that spread out until the most recent. I'm pretty sure more than twenty one people had died since then."

"Maybe it's some sort of hierarchy thing?" Booth suggested, leaning back so his head was resting on Brennan's stomach and gained looks from the squints. "You know, maybe the first guy was someone important and the most recent are hidden there."

Everyone was silent until Brennan spoke up. "That is very plausible." She said proudly patting his arm. Sweets came out the bathroom freshly showered and dressed, signaling that it was her turn to use the bathroom. She nodded and slid the computer off her lap. "I'll be right back, I need to get dressed."

Hodgins couldn't hold it any longer. "Are you sharing a bed with Doctor Brennan?" He asked, gaining a scolding look from his superior and ignored her.

It was no use lying to him. "Sweets' needed a room and the entire city is booked." Booth said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm nice enough to give Sweets my bed."

"So you can sleep with Doctor B, right?" Hodgins teased, he wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "But not in the naked fun way."

"Seeley always did like to cuddle though." Said Cam with a smile on her face and didn't miss the flush that crossed his features.

Before anyone could say anything, Booth glared at Cam. "Goodbye Cam, goodbye Hodgins." And he shut the screen to the computer as Brennan came out of the bathroom completely dressed and her hair rested in curls along her back.

It was Booth's turn to get ready as Brennan's cell phone vibrated from the bedside table. She picked it up and read the screen, flushing slightly at the words from her best friend. _**What's this I hear about sharing a bed with a white knight? **_She pocketed the phone without responding and the pair waited for Booth to finish so they could head out to the compound.

*~*

The three of them had been cramped in the back of Bill's SUV, save for Dalton who sat in the front seat and for Hyde who would meet them there. Booth stretched his legs and groaned slightly as he bumped Brennan with his elbow, gaining a glare from the woman. "I thought you said it was only an hour away." Booth complained.

Bill glanced in the rear view mirror and frowned. "It was a little exaggeration." He answered. "We are almost there."

"What can you tell us about Roman?" Asked Dalton, who looked up from the file with a frown on her face. "Other than what has been said on the news?"

"You mean solitation of minors and forced incest?" He questioned with a question. "I can't answer that."

Brennan raised her eyebrow. "Why?"

Bill shrugged, gaining curious looks from the agents. "I don't know if it's true, seriously." He answered.

Booth and Brennan looked at Sweets for confirmation that he was lying and his face fill with annoyance. "What am I, a lie detector?" He cried and folded his arms.

They chuckled and fell into a comfortable silence until it was Sweets' turn to shift as his phone vibrated against the door and leaned on the anthropologist to reach into his pocket for it. And it was her turn to groan as she leaned on to her partner and also received another elbow to the rib cage. "Honestly!" She exasperated, elbowing both of the men.

"Jesus, Bones." Booth complained, rubbing his sore sternum.

The two occupants in the front glared in the rear view mirror. "Don't make me turn this car around." Bill joked as if he was talking to his own children.

"No!" The three adults said in unison as they glared at each other with their arms folded as the SUV turned on a dirt road towards more nothingness.

It was another forty five minutes until they pulled to a stop at a large gate guarded by two men in police uniforms and Bill drove passed the slowly without making eye contact with the men and the road they took was long and bumpy causing the anthropologist to hit her head on the low ceiling. When he finally stopped the three in the backseat fled the vehicle and stretched their cramped muscles.

When they could feel the circulation in their legs, they took notice of their surroundings and the people who occupied the space the house doing random chores. The older women didn't bother looking up, but the younger women dressed in long sleeves and skirts that touched the ground gave the newcomers a glance, before a hiss from an older woman forced them back to their duties. "What are you doing here, Bill?" She said through gritted teeth.

In the same pleasantries, he motioned to them. "Nice to see you too Adeline, these people are here from the FBI and they would like to talk with Roman." He said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

She sized them up before a curt smile came to her face. "If you will follow me, we'll get you seated." She said before motioning to a younger woman and she turned on her heels, running away from the house. Another older woman motioned for the strangers to follow as Adeline pulled Bill aside, talking in whispers as they walked through the door and into a nicely placed parlor.

Booth waited for Brennan to sit on the edge of the sofa before he sat next to him and the woman disappeared into the kitchen. "Do you think all those women are married to the one man?" Asked Dalton in a whisper as she sat in a chair.

Brennan frowned and considered the question, but was unable to answer when Bill and Adeline walked inside. "Roman is on his way." Bill announced and sat down as Adeline brought in a tray of cookies and lemonade, resting it on the table before walking away.

Booth helped himself to a glass of lemonade and motioned to Brennan asking if she wanted one, she shook her head negatively before turning to Sweets, who accepted it willingly before taking a sip from his own glass. His face distorted as the liquid went down his throat causing him to cough loudly. Brennan shot him a worried look as she patted his back until his breathing went to normal. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine." He answered hoarsely, placing a hand on top of hers in reassurance.

Sweets' matched his and he sat the glass down on the table. "That stuff is strong!" He exclaimed and the door opened and they all jumped to their feet. The man in the door was small and his skin was weathered making him look frail, on his head rested a large black hat that hid most of his face. He took off the hat and handed it to Adeline before surveying the room his icy eyes sent shivers down Brennan's spine. "I am Roman Grant, you must be with the FBI."

Booth introduced the small group as they all sat back down, the prophets eyes rested on Brennan and she shifted nervously. "What can I do for you, Mr. Booth?"

He reached into his pocket pulling out the picture of Elisa and handed it to him. "Do you know who this girl is?" He asked.

Reluctantly he moved his eyes towards the photo before setting it on the coffee table. "Elisa Grant, she is my daughter in law." He said firmly. "She's been missing for a couple of days now I have contacts all over looking for her and my son."

"She was murdered two days ago." Dalton said, hoping to get some rise out of the man.

"That's a shame." Came his unlikely response and Booth tensed. "She was such a wonderful woman, full of life and expecting, what happened to the child?"

Booth opened his mouth to speak, but Brennan beat him to it. "We haven't been able to find any remains to suggest that it was murdered also." Another man stalked into the room and leaned against the wall, his face disclosed discomfort.

"Don't be rude Albie, have a seat." Roman announced before turning his attention back to Booth and Brennan. Albie was a tall man with a bent posture and in Booth's opinion was build like a linebacker with his wide shoulders probably from years of farm work. An annoyed grunt escaped his lips as he took a seat on the chair next to Dalton.

"They want to know where Nathan is, Roman." Bill said, glaring at the new man in the room making the tension in the room double.

The emotionless face fell slightly enough for Sweets to notice. "I haven't seen Nathan since last week when he and Elisa went up to Salt Lake he called me a couple of days ago and said that she had disappeared." Roman explained. "What happened to her?"

"She fell." Brennan answered coldly as if Booths annoyance radiated to her.

"She fell?" He repeated with a frown.

"She hit her head on a rock and suffered from a subdural hematoma, died instantly before the skin on her face and her finger tips were scraped off with a knife and the infant was taken out of her. Then she was place into her truck and set on fire." Brennan said just as coldly as the color drained from Roman and Albie's faces. Bill frowned, having not heard that before he arrived as the color also drained from his face.

The room was silent save for the deep breathing and Roman broke the silence. "You think Nathan was responsible for this horrible act?" He asked.

"He is a suspect." Booth answered. "We need to know where he is, he might have the baby or he might hurt someone else."

"My Nathan doesn't have the heart to do such an atrocious thing." Roman argued as another well dressed man walked into the room with a look of panic on his face, paying no notice to the group or the building tension in the room. He whispered something into Romans ear and for the first time emotion filled his face bringing him to his feet. "I apologize, but a dear friend of mine is dying and is in need of a blessing." He said, motioning for Albie to follow him. "If you could come back tomorrow. . ."

"We just want to see his house or room. . ." Booth inquired, hoping the man would allow them to look for evidence.

"As much as I would love to oblige to your request Mr. Booth, you are going to need a warrant." Roman said turning around to face him. "I have to look out for the well being of my followers." He turned sharply on his heels and walked out the screen door.

Booth sighed and rubbed his forehead to ward off a headache that was sure to follow. They got to their feet and wandered out of the same door, causing Booth to flinch at the bright light. "What do we do now?" Asked Sweets as they gathered around the SUV, with each supporting an annoyed look on their faces.

Booth leaned into the vehicle and folded his arms. "We will get a warrant for the entire compound." Booth said bitterly. "I'm sure we can find something . . ."

Brennan wandered around the SUV as a teenage girl struggling to lift a full basket of vegetables caught her attention. She trotted across the street and took a handle from the girl who smiled appreciatively, before growing nervous when she didn't recognize the woman. They both stood to full height with the bucket in between them when Brennan smiled what she hoped to be softly. "Hi, I'm Temperance."

"I'm Morgan." She answered. Her hair was dark, almost black, and pulled back in braids as the long solid purple dress covered her body and a white apron brought attention to her bulging waist line. She led the way up a set of stairs to a porch, setting the basket down. "Thanks for the help."

"You shouldn't be lifting such heavy thing when you're pregnant." Brennan said as she followed her back down the steep stairs and back to the garden for another basket of vegetables. "Did you know Elisa Grant?"

Morgan bent down and pulled more carrots out of the ground. "We grew up together, but I haven't heard from her in weeks." She said as another woman wandered over to them.

"I told you to wait for me to carry the basket, Morgan." Said the woman who was dressed in a long bright blue prairie dress, but her hair flowed wildly down her back. A frown graced her lips as she sized up Brennan. "Who are you?"

"My name is Temperance Brennan I'm looking for any information on Elisa Grant." Brennan said as the unnamed girl picked up the basket, swaying slightly. Brennan reached out and held onto the uneven side.

"Elisa is my sister." She said with a frown. "My name is Rose Epperson, she's dead isn't she?"

Brennan nodded in surprise. "How did you know that she was dead?" Brennan asked.

It was then Booth trotted over after noticing his partner had disappeared with a look of relief on his face. Ever the gentleman, he took the basket from both of the women. "If you follow Morgan, she will show you where to put it." Rose said gratefully. "Please don't leave yet." She turned on her heels and ran out of the gate.

Brennan stood confused as Booth returned with Morgan, whose eyes were filled with tears. "How did she die?" Morgan asked in a whisper as a group of woman walked passed them, paying them no heed.

The partners shared a look before Booth spoke. "She fell." He answered.

Tears fell steady down her face. "Is there anything you can tell us about her?" Brennan asked, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a tissue, handing it to the girl.

"Morgan!" A man yelled from the door and she tensed, taking a couple of steps away from them.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." She cried, before running back up the stairs to the man who glared at them before going inside.

Brennan looked at her partner for his opinion on the matter, but he was strangely quiet. "Are you okay, Booth?" She asked.

He smiled half heartedly before placing a hand on her back, leading her back to the car. "I'm fine, Bones." He said with a chuckle, only for her to shoot him a skeptical look. "Really Bones."

She let it slide as he walked ahead to talk with Hyde, she stopped when she saw Rose running towards her and in her hands was an old and worn shoebox. Breathlessly, she shoved the box into the anthropologist's hands and scanned the area. "Please don't tell anyone about this." She whispered before running away.

Brennan stood on the sidewalk looking at the box in her hands when Booth called her name again. She took her place at his side as Hyde talked shop with Booth. ". . .You might as well head back to Salt Lake and get a warrant to search to compound, I'll call and get a couple of agents to stake out the perimeter."

Booth nodded and Bill turned to open the driver's side door. "I'll drive you back." He offered as Dalton stayed back with her partner, the other three climbed into the SUV and they drove back to the city.

*~*

The car ride was silent.

Brennan sat behind the drivers' seat and went through the box. It was full of letters, small mementos and journals. Her attention turned to a recent picture of Rose and Elisa, both holding their obviously pregnant bellies. Rose was clearly farther along, but they had matching smiles on their faces with the caption on the back _24__th__ of July celebrations, Rose-37 weeks, Elisa 23 weeks_.

The next picture was of Elisa in a long white dressed, looking very upset, as who she assumed to be Nathan held her in his arm in the typical 'over the threshold' carry. The date on the picture matched the bracelet that they found and was also on her wrist in the picture. She turned to show her partner but stopped when she realized that he was dozing against the window, his face was flushed and it glistened with sweat.

She reached over and brushed her fingers against his cheek, it was very warm and he twitched at her cold fingers. "Are you feeling alright, Booth?" She asked in a whisper.

A rush of bile surged through him. "Pull over." He said Bill sent him a questioning look as he did as he was asked. Quickly he climbed out, followed by Brennan as he emptied the contents of his stomach on the side of the road. She placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled his tie out of the way.

They stood there for a short while until his heaving subsided and Brennan ran his fingers through his hair as he rested most of his weight on her. "Feel better?" He groaned as Sweets came around to help him back in the SUV. Brennan looked up to notice that the psychologist was also pale. "Not you too."

She faltered slightly as Booth closed his eyes tightly. Bill got out of the car and assisted Booth back into the car as Brennan led Sweets back to his seat before climbing back into her seat. "Maybe it was something they ate?" Bill suggested, Brennan thought back to breakfast where they both had pancakes and sausages, they hadn't had lunch yet.

"Maybe." She said as Booth laid down in the middle, resting his head on her lap with a groan. His eyes closed tightly the heat radiating from his forehead through her slacks.

*~*

It took longer to get back to their hotel because of the extra stops along the way. Both men had taken turns vomiting on the side of the road until they finally made it back and another twenty minutes to get both men from the parking lot up to their bedroom and into bed.

She followed Bill back to the door and smiled gratefully. "Thank you for your help." She said breathlessly, leaning her head on the door.

"No problem." He said, extending his hand to her. "I know it's not proper protocol, but if you need anything don't hesitate to call."

She nodded as the door shut behind him before toeing her shoes off and turning towards her friends to assess their conditions. Booth was curled on his side, huddled under the comforter as Sweets sat on his bed struggling to get his own shoes off. Brennan walked in between the beds and pulled them off for him before pulling off his jacket and tie. "Thanks." He groaned as he laid his head on the pillow, immediately falling asleep.

Carefully she pulled the blanket off of Booth and awkwardly pulled his shoes off without waking him and undressed him the best she could from his position on his side. His eyes fluttered opened and a weak smile on his face as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you feeling any better?" She asked in a whisper.

"No." He answered.

She leaned in and pressed her lips to his forehead to evaluate his fever. "Your fever is getting worse." She said after keeping them there longer than necessary. His eyes closed at her cool touch and moaned again. "Get some sleep."

She got up and went to the couch before pulling out her cell phone. She dialed the number and waited for the other line to answer. She looked at her watch and it read just after six in D. C. as she sighed when it picked up. "Saroyan." The background was loud that suggested that she was at a restaurant.

"It's me." Brennan said trying to keep her voice neutral and was failing miserably. "I hope that I'm not bothering you."

Cam mumbled something to somebody and then the background grew quiet. "What's wrong?" She asked.

She sighed before she talked. "Booth and Sweets are sick." She said with her voice cracking. "I'm worried about them." She described the symptoms of nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, lack of coordination and the set depression that they both seem to be in. ". . . they both started about the same time."

The pathologist sighed. "You need to get them to a hospital, they might've been poisoned." Cam answered as a strange sound from behind Brennan caught her attention.

Booth was on his back convulsing as a seizure took a hold of him. Brennan threw her cell phone on the bed as she ran over to him and she removed the pillow from underneath his head before grabbing the land line. As she used her weight to pin Booth to the mattress the operator picked up the phone. "How can I help you?"

"I need two ambulances right now." She said into the phone before slamming it back into its cradle.

The seizure ended after a long few minutes taking his ability to breath with him. Brennan placed her ear next to his mouth and frowned when she couldn't hear or feel anything. She tilted his head back to open his airway before placing her mouth on to his, forcing oxygen into his body.

His pulse was still there.

She breathed again for him, making his chest clearly raise causing Booth to cough forcefully. "Thank god." Brennan whispered, rolling him to his side as he emptied the contents of his stomach onto the mattress. "Can you hear me, Booth?"

He got no response as there was a knock on the door. "Paramedics."

Brennan ran to the door and opened it, six men dress in the standard EMT wear and all their gear filed into the room as she gave them the detail of the last three hours and they loaded both men onto the stretchers before all three of them were loaded into the ambulances towards the hospital as Brennan held Booth's hand tightly.


	8. Songs in a Waiting Room

**Title: Multiples in the Family**

**Author: SplishySplash, Ihave207Bones**

**Rating: T**

**Spoilers: Up to Pain in the Heart**

**Pairing: B/B**

**Summary: A case brings Booth and Brennan to Utah where they come into contact with the concept of polygamy and a murder.**

**Chapter 8: Songs in a Waiting Room**

She slept fitfully as in the hard upright chair in between two beds in the small hospital room. The last few adrenaline filled hours had left the woman emotionally weak, exhausted and out of control as she was rushed in the back of the ambulance with her partner, who had started seizing again. The paramedic injected him with a drug before placing the mask on his face and forcing oxygen into his lungs, speeding towards the hospital.

With the blood rushing through her ears, the siren blaring as they sped through the evening traffic and the paramedics shouting instructions, she watched in horror and couldn't help the tears escaping from her eyes. Her eyes closed as her thoughts ran to the man in the ambulance behind her, was he in as bad as shape as her partner? What had caused both of them to react like this?

A sharp shake brought her from her thoughts as the paramedic brought her from her thoughts and he pointed out the window as the hospital came into view, he brushed passed her almost rudely and the ambulance came to a stop. The doors opened and the gurney was pulled out and towards the door before Brennan could get out.

She trotted next to him as his eyes opened weakly for the first time since he laid down on the bed in the hotel room. "Booth." She shouted above the noise, trying to focus his attention on her and gained nothing from him. The bed stopped moving right outside the trauma bay doors where the nurse pushed her away. "Booth!"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but family only." He said gruffly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She stumbled back as if he burned her before she spoke up. "I am his family." She said, brushing past him through the swinging doors after her family with the nurse in tow. Again her hand found its way into his as they stopped moving long enough to move Booth from the gurney to the table. "Booth." Her voice dropped into a whisper.

He couldn't speak, the tube that was in his throat wouldn't allow for it, but he gave her hand a weak squeeze that was barely recognized before she was ushered out of the room. "Ma'am we need you to wait outside so we can treat him properly." Said the doctor and the same nurse lead her out of the room.

Her cell phone rang from her pocket and it went unanswered as a clipboard was thrusted at her for information on her partner inside the fluorescent pale waiting room when another nurse ran over to her. "You came in with Lance Sweets?" He asked breathlessly and she nodded warily. "We need to get a hold of someone in his family we have to take him into surgery." Brennan gasped and the clipboard fell to the floor, her hand covering her mouth and the overwhelming panic started to set in. "Ma'am?"

She took a deep calming breath and it came out in a rasp. "He doesn't have anybody." She said. "I'm all he has."

One of the doctors that were working on Booth rushed out. "Are you Seeley Booth's wife?" She asked breathlessly. To save argument she nodded. "We need to get him in to surgery."

The room began to spin, her knees gave way and she fell into the chair behind her. "What is wrong with them?" She asked with a cry.

"They both have ethanol glycol poisoning, probably from ingesting anti-freeze mixed into something." Said the doctor looking grim, placing a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. "We need permission to treat both men with an intense therapy of an anticonvulsive medications and sodium bicarbonate to treat the acidosis and a dose of Fomepizole which is. . ."

The headache she was feeling was quickly escalading to a migraine. "Do whatever it takes." She said with a wave, her hand covered her eyes that she knew were red from crying.

"I must warn you that it is a very costly procedure. . ." The doctor said, "But the success rate is very high."

"I said just do it." Brennan snapped, glaring at the doctor who turned on her heels and ran back through the swinging doors quickly followed by the nurse. Her cell phone rang loudly from her pocket and again she ignored it, each note of the jingle made her head pulse and she turned it off, not bothering to check who was calling.

It was an elderly nurse that tapped her on her shoulder some time later that brought her out of her adrenaline induced stupor baring Tylenol and a bottle of water that made her realize that she was alone in the waiting room. "You look like you could use these." She said in a grandmotherly voice.

Brennan accepted the gifts gratefully. "Thank you." She said with her voice raspy from crying. The woman turned on her heels and walked back to her desk, continuing to type on her computer with The Beatles softly coming from the speakers mixing with the health video on the TV screen that seemed infinitely on repeat.

_And any time you feel the pain, hey Jude refrain, don't carry the world upon your shoulders. For well you know it's a fool who plays it cool, by making his world a little colder. _

She closed her eyes, eager for the medication to do its job but it didn't keep as a rush of bile swept through her as she booked it to the restroom and emptied the contents of her stomach. When it finally stopped she sat with her back against the door with a steady stream of tears and heaving breaths. She opened her eyes and dragged herself to her feet to look in the mirror. A watery laugh escaped from her lips because she looked like a mess, all makeup long washed away from the tears and replaced with red blotchy spots on her skin. Taking a deep breath, she washed her face with cold water to force herself to be strong for her friends.

A knock on the door brought her out of her revere and caused her to jump. She opened the door and the elderly nurse and doctor stood on the other side. "Are you alright?" Asked the doctor with a worried look on her face, last thing she needed was another poisoning case in the wee hours of the morning.

"I'm fine." Brennan answered, shutting the door behind her and the doctor look skeptical. "I just took Tylenol on an empty stomach."

The doctor's eyebrow rose. "I would like to check you for ethanol glycol poisoning too." She said firmly, Brennan opened her mouth to argue. "Just as a safety precaution."

"I'm fine." She reiterated just as firmly, folding her arms. "I haven't eaten anything since this morning. . ."

The doctor didn't believe it. "Be that as it may, you might not feel fine later. You came in with two people who are suffering from the same thing you might've ingested it to without noticing." She resigned and nodded without another word, the doctor did bring up a valid point as she followed her back to a room full of people, beds and curtains and motioned for her to sit on an empty bed. "I'm going to take some blood." The needle went in easily into her arm and she didn't feel anything. The doctor placed the gauze pad on the entry point roughly causing Brennan to flinch at the bruise that was forming. "This won't take long."

Left alone she glanced around the room, a woman who was just as exhausted as she was sat with a child in her arms who was asleep. A man cried out in pain as another doctor set his arm with a loud crack, causing her eyes to close as the familiar sound reverberated through the room. A nurse led a very skinny woman who was doubled over in pain onto the bed next to her, her male companion held her hand tightly as she vomited on the floor.

The man started panicking and Brennan rolled her eyes, jumping off the bed she wandered down the hallway, looking for any word on Booth and Sweets. She didn't make it far when she was called something that caught her off guard. "Ms. Booth?"

She turned on her heels, slightly startled. "Yes?" She said and didn't bother correct her. The woman looked at her expectantly and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, but. . ."

The doctor's smile softened. "I would prefer if you would lay down just as a precaution, but I can see that it's not going to happen." She said softly as Brennan opened her mouth to protest. "Your husband and friend are stable and moved to the ICU, will you promise to take it easy until you're blood test comes back, if I take you to go see them?"

Brennan nodded and followed the doctor to an elevator, which led down a maze of hallways to the last room on the right that roomed the men. The door swung open and she took a deep breath, preparing herself for the worst.

The room was small and even smaller with two beds, her breath hitched as she noticed the numerous wires and tubes that came out of their comatose bodies. The rhythmic beeping from their heart monitors where the only sound that filled the room as she took quiet steps into the room. "Lance responded very well to the therapy." The doctor said as Brennan walked farther into the room and took her partners hand in hers.

"What about him?" She asked, brushing the hair off his forehead.

The doctor sighed and folded her arms, leaning against the door. "He crashed and was quickly defibrillated." A small sob escaped Brennan's lips. "But he's been an excellent fighter and is right on course for recovery. They should wake up in the next day or so and we can make a full assessment on them both." Brennan stood quietly and was visibly shaken by how pale and weak he looked in the bed when a hand came onto her arm. "They are going to be okay."

She didn't know what to believe as the doctor left with instructions to rest and let her know she was feeling sick. The exhaustion took over as she set Booth's hand next to his side and fell unceremoniously into the plastic recliner chair before falling asleep.

It felt like moments after she had fallen asleep that another hand came to her shoulder causing her to jump as her usual keen sense of hearing didn't hear the door open. "Doctor Brennan." The voice belonging to the hand said in a whisper. It took a moment for her eyes to focus to realize that it was her boss standing in front of her.

"Cam?" She said, disoriented as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "What time is it?"

A tired smile came to her face as she dropped her bag on the floor. "It's just after three mountain standard time." She said simply as her eyes wandered to the men laying still on their respective beds. "How are they doing?"

Brennan sighed and got to her feet, wandered back to her partner's side. "They were poisoned. . ." She started, but dam broke and a sob escaped her lips. "This shouldn't have happened. . ."The pathologist quickly gathered her into her arms both had a steady stream of tears rolling down their faces. "I know it's not logical to take the blame . . ."

"There is no way that you could've known that this was going to happen." Cam said, holding her tightly as she sobbed into her shoulder. "It's a miracle that you haven't been affected by it."

The anthropologist froze, she had been so wrapped up in the wellbeing of her friends health that she didn't stop to figure out the logic behind the situation. What had Sweets and Booth ingested that she didn't? They ate breakfast in the hotel, drove to Juniper Creek and on the way home Booth had started to get sick.

The lemonade had to have antifreeze in it.

Both men had the same reaction to drinking it.

Brennan stiffened as she pushed back from Cam, surprising the pathologist. "I need to go talk to someone." Brennan said quickly, turning around to look at her partner and walking to his side. She pressed her lips tenderly to his forehead and smoothed back his hair. "I'm going to fix this." She whispered to him before grabbing her shoes and brushing passed her boss.

"Doctor Brennan it's late, maybe you should get some more sleep." Cam suggested following her from the door and she slid her feet into the flip flops.

"I'm fine. I'll be back." She said disappearing down the hall in a run.

Cam turned around taking the vacated seat between both men and pulled out a magazine, knowing the next few hours were going to be long. There was a knock on the door and a doctor stepped inside looking confused. "Are you here to check these two? " Cam asked awkwardly.

The doctor stepped into the room. "I'm looking for Mrs. Booth, her test results are back." The doctor said.

"Mrs. Booth?" She asked with a raised brow, looking toward Booth. "Oh. She had to step out for a bit." The doctor rolled her eyes and exited the room as a smile came to Cam's face. "She has some explaining to do when she comes back, doesn't she Seeley?" The familiar 'don't call me Seeley' was absent and Cam returned her attention to the magazine.

*~*

She raised her hand to knock on the door as the taxi drove away and waited for the heavy padded footsteps from the other side to open it. The woman who she met the day before opened the door, tying her pink robe around her tightly with her hair askew. "Can I help you?" She sneered.

"I'm sorry to wake you, but I'm looking for Bill." Brennan said, looking at her watch that read just after four, Nikki looked annoyed. "It's an emergency."

She nodded after a moment and motioned for her to come inside. "Hang on, I'll go get him." Brennan took a seat on the couch as the sliding glass door opened and shut and opened again when Bill entered the room.

"Doctor Brennan?" He said taking a seat on the couch across from her with a look of worry on his face wearing track pants and a grey top. "Is everything okay?"

She took a deep breath to get her emotions under control. "I need to go back to Juniper Creek." She said firmly, the dark circles under her eyes added to the intimidation.

Bill didn't ask any questions and got to his feet. "Let me go change and we'll leave."


End file.
